Central African Republic Halts A Chinese Mining Company’s Operations

A government decree in the Central African Republic states that a Chinese mining company’s operations have been banned because the government believes the company is collaborating with armed groups.

Daqing SARL, a Chinese gold and diamond mining company, has been charged by the nation’s Ministry of Mines with “intelligence with armed groups, illegal mining, illegal introduction of foreign subjects into mining areas, non-payment of taxes and absence of activity reports” in the recently released decree.

Operating out of Mingala, a town in the southern Central African Republic beset by conflict between the nation’s armed forces and the Coalition of Patriots for Change, an armed group opposed to the government, was Daqing SARL.

Following the overthrow of President François Bozize by rebels who were primarily Muslim in 2013, the Central African Republic has been embroiled in conflict. Christian-dominated militias retaliated.

Six of the 14 armed factions that had signed the peace pact in 2019 withdrew after it merely served to defuse tensions. In 2020, the Coalition of Patriots for Change was established in response to the accord.

The nation is still among the world’s poorest in spite of its abundant mineral resources, especially in gold and diamonds. Foreign firms have been unable to conduct mineral prospecting in the conflict-ridden country due to the impunity with which rebel groups have operated over the past ten years.